Last meeting
In Week 13 of the 2006 season, the Eagles got a sensational performance from Jeff Garcia (312 yards and 3 TDs) and held off the visiting Panthers, 27-24.
Streaks
The Eagles have won four of the teams' five career meetings, but the Panthers were victorious in the lone playoff contest between the two in the 2003 NFC Championship Game.
Keep your eye on ...
Brian Westbrook's explosiveness: The two-time Pro Bowl running back missed the entire preseason after offseason ankle surgery. If he doesn't look ready against Carolina, impressive rookie LeSean McCoy could be called upon to pick up the slack.
Sean McDermott's debut: Over the past decade, Philadelphia has fielded some of the best defenses in the league. The constant over that time frame was defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, who died of cancer in the offseason. Johnson's protégé, McDermott, has taken over, but the team's lackluster preseason defensively has done nothing to quiet concerns about his readiness.
Jake Delhomme's psyche: The last time we saw the Panthers quarterback in a game that mattered was in the divisional round of last year's playoffs when he suffered through a terrible postseason performance. Despite that poor outing, his steady regular-season play earned him a contract extension in the offseason, but will there be a lingering effect from his playoff disappointment?
Did you know?
Philadelphia has advanced to the NFC title game in five of Andy Reid's 10 seasons as coach. ... Westbrook is the only player since 2004 with 4,000-plus rushing yards (4,915) and 3,000-plus receiving yards (3,191). ... Julius Peppers is first in Panthers franchise history with 70.5 sacks.
